This cookbook is written by sisters, it appears–Georgeanne and Ethel Brennan.  They have also co-authored a couple other cookbooks titled “Sun Dried Tomatoes” and “Citrus”.  I like their simplistic themes with ingredients often overlooked.  I think they should also write “Canned Pineapple” and “Raisins” and then I can really use up some things in my pantry!

This cookbook has a rather long, but interesting introduction.  It covers everything from the history of the goat, to goat cheese production around the world.  You learn interesting facts like how we get the word “capricious” from the Latin word “capre”, meaning goat, because goats are impulsive and unpredictable!  The introduction also talks about how goat cheese is made world-wide but France has been the biggest producer (fromage de chèvre) and that goat cheese production didn’t really start in the U.S. until the late 1970s.  Then you learn about the four main categories of goat cheese and all the varietals within those categories before it finally moves on the the recipes!

There are 24 recipes in this little cookbook.  The recipes range from classics like Lemon Cheesecake, Pasta Salad, and Peppered Rib Eye to more involved recipes like Soufflé of Goat Cheese with Smoked Salmon and Dill, Goat Cheese Filled Poblanos with Green Tomato Salsa, and Braised Rabbit with Creamy Red Wine and Goat Cheese Sauce.  So, naturally, being the daring people we are, we decided to go outside our comfort zone and choose recipes we might not normally choose and would be more interesting to cook.  We decided on “these look hard but we know we’ll love them” Chile and Feta Popovers, the “I have to butcher a what?!” Braised Rabbit, then ended with “I just ate Thumper; I need something simple to detox” Poached Winter Pears.  Here’s how this crazy meal turned out…

Appetizer–Chile and Feta Popovers:  Grade A-

These little muffins were delicious for not having been cooked correctly!  I was worried that the serrano chiles in these were going to be too much since I was having such a hard time mincing them.  They were burning my eyeballs and stinging my throat…it was hell getting these suckers ready for the batter, but I survived.  And the popovers were all the better for it!  Really the only problem was that these popovers didn’t really… pop over!  They didn’t rise very well.  They were still less dense than a biscuit, but not as airy and light as a popover should be.  In my brief research, I found out I hit the “trifecta” of popover mistakes.  I was supposed to preheat the pan and not put it in cold…didn’t do that.  I was not supposed to over mix the batter…pretty sure I did that.  And I wasn’t, absolutely wasn’t, supposed to peek in while they were baking…I did that…like, a lot!  So these popovers never had a chance, really.  But they were still tasty and delicious and I can’t wait to make them again!  You should try them too!  I’ve decided to just post the recipe of the dishes that were my favorite.  If you’re dying to know a recipe for something I didn’t like or that I messed up, then just let me know and I’ll make sure you get it.  But the pictures of recipes weren’t really working for me and they probably don’t work well for you either.  So here you go…The recipe with my notes in parenthesis…

Chile and Feta Popovers–Makes 12 popovers (twelve was a streeetttcchh)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

2 fresh serrano chiles (watch out!  these guys mean business)

1/2 to 2/3 cup goats’ milk feta cheese (I used 2/3 cup, why not?)

1.  Preheat the oven to 475˚ (and apparently preheat the muffin pan too)

2.  Grease muffin cups with butter and dust with flour, tap out excess

3.  Sift flour and salt in a medium bowl.  Gently stir eggs, milk, and melted butter in a small bowl.

4.  Fold egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a fork until smooth; be careful not to overmix (this should be taken seriously…).  Batter should be consistency of heavy cream (mmmmm….heavy cream…yummmmmm….).

5.  Gently stir in chiles and feta (You see it says gently, right?).

6.  Pour batter into (preheated?) muffin cups, divided evenly (duh!).  Should be two-thirds full.

7.  Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350˚ and contine to bake until the popovers have doubled in size and are barely browned, another 20 minutes.  (This is where all hell broke loose in my kitchen and I had to keep peeking thus wrecking popovers…so good luck at this point!).

8.  Remove from oven, prick the tops (I didn’t have to do this…not much to prick), and serve immediately!

Main Dish–Braised Rabbit with Creamy Red Wine and Goat Cheese Sauce:  Grade B+

This is where it got weird.  Rabbit?!  My husband had to really talk me into this one as I was super uncomfortable with the idea.  But he said we owe it to the readers to try new and interesting recipes so THANK YOU VERY MUCH READERS for making me eat a bunny rabbit!

The first part was finding a rabbit.  You can’t just get these at Fred Meyer, as it turns out. We got our rabbit from a local shop in Southeast Portland called Pastaworks.  This place is amazing!  It’s essentially an Italian market.  They have all sorts of wonderful things there…salamis, cheeses…and then they have rabbit.  Just sitting in the deli case like it’s no big deal.  A couple of them…cause apparently there’s enough demand they can just sit out there each day waiting for someone to come eat them.  I asked for one rabbit and the guy wrapped it up.  Whole.  It occurred to me much too late that I should have had him cut it into pieces.  So I came home with a whole rabbit minus fur and head (thank God).  So there I was with a butcher knife and Bunnicula.  Luckily we found butchering instructions on the internet, so my husband read off each instruction.  I carefully made each cut and sure as heck I did it…but only after getting slightly nauseous thinking about how I was cutting through a rabbit.  I don’t know why that bothered me so much, but it really, really did.  Until I decided it was just a chicken.  When I thought about it as a chicken, I was okay.  Instead of legs and paws it had wings…that’s what I had to keep telling myself…

After that, the recipe was easy to follow, just a bit time consuming since it’s braised meat.  It calls for fava beans, which is a whole other story.  The short version is:  husband hates fava beans, I say suck it up I’m eating the Velveteen Rabbit, can’t find fava beans easily, I say I’m substituting lima beans, husband hates lima beans, I remind him of how I’m cooking Little Bunny Foo Foo, he groans, I decide to soak limas overnight, then I BURN THE HELL out of them when cooking them (tending to baby) so beans ruined and husband wins the bean fight.

Oh, it also says this crazy thing where you cook bacon and sear the rabbit in it then, swear to God, it says “discard bacon”.  What the what?  You don’t discard bacon!  So I left that in the recipe.  In fact, I doubled the amount of bacon, then left it in.  That’ll teach you, recipe!

When it was all said and done, the rabbit was tender, falling off the bone, and it tasted like chicken!  It’s unclear if that’s because I had been calling it chicken the whole time to get over the fact it was rabbit, or if it really does taste like chicken.  But either way I was thankful.  The red wine and goat cheese sauce was rich and creamy!  Next time, just switch up the meat.  No reason it has to be rabbit.  None.

Dessert–Poached Winter Pears with Sweet Goat Cheese:  Grade A

This dessert takes pears, poaches them in water, brandy and butter, then turns them onto a plate and dumps some goat cheese on them and sprinkles with fresh mint.  This turned out pretty well!  It’s not quite what we were expecting in terms of taste.  It’s a dessert, so you’d think it would be really sweet but it wasn’t.  But that was sort of nice.  It was more of a salty/savory taste and the fresh mint was refreshing.  The recipe says to let the pears simmer in the brandy water for about ten minutes, but my problem was that the pears were very ripe, perhaps over ripe to begin with.  So they were very, very soft and falling apart a little!  But they were fantastic in taste (The pears and the mint came from a local market in Southeast Portland down the street from Pastaworks called Kruger’s Farm Market).  There was one thing I did differently to the recipe which was to reduce the sauce down a bit (and I even added more brandy) then used it as a sauce over the pears.  Excellent decision on my part!!!

Wine–Three Graces by Artiste:  Grade A+++

This wine is in the style of a Côtes du Rhone, but it’s not French.  It’s a mixture of Syrah, Grenache, and Viognier grapes.  We picked this wine up while on a wine tour in the Santa Ynez Valley outside of Santa Barbara.  It has an excellent, rich flavor.  We loved it!  And the fun part is that this winery mixes wine and art…literally.  The label is a piece of art in and of itself as it is actually “painted” in red wine.  The artist is Christina LoCascio and it is her rendition of Raphael’s “Three Graces” painting.  It’s a really cool idea to have the art inspire the wine!

Next Post:  Super Bowl Sunday Appetizers…

My first race that I felt like I was racing and not just riding. 8th place.

our annual trip in the fall to the pumpkin patch has become a tradition our entire family looks forward to. this year was coco’s first time. we rode the hayride out to the patch, picked out our favorite pumpkins, explored the giant corn maze, ate homemade corn dogs, wood fired pizza, roasted ears of corn and delicious caramel apples! micah and i enjoyed some pints by captured by porches too. we were ready for a thunderstorm at any moment, but it waited until later that night. all in all, it was a perfect family day, complete with wild flowers, live bluegrass and sunshine!

Recently, I had the honor of shooting her daughter’s fifth birthday party, and that particular day was filled with: october sunshine and blue skies; pumpkins in fields and mo phillips (portland musician extraordinaire) on his guitar singing madonna covers; bagels with cream-cheese, cupcakes topped with plastic cats and dogs and mason jars with polka dot straws; hula hoops, miniature ponies, hay rides, tree climbing and autumn winds.

Franny’s hair blew in the breeze and her golden “5″ balloon got stuck in the branches of the old tree above us. The day was perfect and it made me want to be little again and run around and wear purple cowboys boots. Franny is the coolest and I am so happy to know this sweet family and to have the incredible Posy Quarterman in my world.

*see Posy’s work here.

Our Portland summers are short, but they sure are swingin’. Come summer, Portland’s parks (and farms, and the zoo, and, heck, even our urban spaces) host free music nearly every day of the week. Pick some berries, toss down a blanket and enjoy the pastoral pleasures of farm tunes. Or jump up and down (you know what they say about the family that dances together) in the heart of downtown.  In true PDX style, most of these events are free and family-friendly—and they feature amazing local food and drink, too.

Kruger’s Farm Tunes Series
Jun 21 – Aug 30, Thursdays
6:30 pm
$10 per car
Come to hear music by popular jazz, rock and bluegrass names, including the The Buckles, Jackstraw and The New Iberians. While you’re there, check out the pleasures of farm life: farm animals, hayrides, berry picking. You can bring a picnic or purchase a wood-fired pizza, beer and wine on site.

Oregon Zoo Concert Series (pictured)
June 22 – Aug 27, nights vary
7:00 pm
$20 and up for ages 3 and older
See world-class artists like The B-52s and Jimmy Cliff performing under the stars at the zoo’s amphitheater. 

Sundown at Ecotrust Concert Series
June 30 – July 28, Thursdays
5:30 pm
Free
Rock out responsibly at this unique series of outdoor concerts that tell a story about how to live deliberately in our bioregion. Bike valet will be provided so ride down to enjoy the show.

Music on Main Street
July 11 –August 29, Wednesdays
5:00 pm
Free
PCPA’s Music on Main Street plunks popular local bands right in the middle of the streets of Portland (Main Street between SW Broadway and Park) for free, family-friendly shows. There is food and wine on site and plenty of room for dancing.

Noon Tunes at Pioneer Square
July 5 – August 18, Tuesdays and Thursdays
Noon
Free
Downtown Portland’s longest running free concert series, featuring some of the best local and regional musical artists—not to mention food and drink—to entertain the crowds.

Tualatin Parks Concert and Theater Series
July 5 – August 23, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays
6:00 pm
Free
This year’s line-up includes international favorite Los Lobos (featured), Journey tribute band Stone in Love, and local stars Freak Mountain Ramblers. You can also catch Shakespeare in the Park—the comic antics of As You Like It are something the whole family will enjoy.

Portland Parks Summer Concert series
July 6 – August 30, nearly nightly
6:00 pm, 6:30 pm, 7:00 pm (varies)
Free
Smokey rockabilly, swingin’ jazz, Ethiopian dance, Ghanaian drums. During July and August you can enjoy over 40 different concerts in parks across our fair city.

Lake Oswego’s Summer Concert Series
July 6 – August 29
Times vary
Free
Lake Oswego Parks & Recreation hosts three summer concert series: Moonlight and Music (Sundays from 6:00 – 7:30 pm); Sounds of Summer. (Wednesdays from 6:30-8:30 pm); and Summer Splash. (Fridays from noon to 1:30 pm).

Portland Festival Symphony
July 22 – Sept 2, Saturdays and Sundays
6:00 pm
Free
For over 30 years, the Portland Festival Symphony has presented free classical music concerts in Portland’s public parks. Sometimes the children are encouraged to participate in special selections with play instruments that they can take home.

Washington Park Summer Festival
August 2 – 12, nightly
6:00 pm
Free
Showcasing a diverse array of performances, the free concert series draws thousands each year to the Washington Park Amphitheater for music and art under the summer sky. BodyVox will be kicking off the series this year.

– Cheyenne Terbrueggen

So the idea is to pick the berries that have turned red and put them in the punnet. Easy.

I might just sample one before I start.

These are really good.

super sweet.

What do you mean I’m supposed to be filling the punnet?

Oh, you mean like that.  It’s a good thing Mum and Papi got the hang of this picking thing.

We were at the Father’s Day Weekend Berry Jam at Kruger’s Farm.

By Ana.

This is from the Easter Egg Hunt we did at Krugers Farm. One of my favorite shots from the day!

The light in September is crisp and bright. These photos were taken with my iPhone on September 1st at Kruger’s Farm during their last outdoor concert of the season. Fall is spectacular in the Northwest but I am conflicted by childhood memories and cling to the leg of summer (step drag, step drag) as she tries to make her exit.

I grew up in Michigan and I remember needing to wear my coat to school by the time my birthday (9/20) rolled around. I never liked going back to school. It signified the end of long days, garden tomatoes, two-day sleep overs and swimming in the lake. Then there was Halloween, dark, raining sideways, freezing cold, long and widely scattered driveways…

On the bright side, I remember apple orchards with warm cider, apple pies and rows of inviting trees, carving pumpkins, the smell of burning leaves and jumping in piles of crisp brightly colored leaves in my wide wale corduroys, lingering face up to absorb the last bit of warmth the sun could muster into my cheeks.

Fall in Portland lasts a little longer but I can’t help thinking that it and Spring are really just the good parts of a *shit sandwich.

*A method of making an unpleasant thing more palatable by surrounding it with more pleasant things.

It has arrived.  My final day at SOLV, my final days as a Jesuit Volunteer in the great Pacific Northwest.  How did this happen, I ask myself, when it was only last week that we arrived at orientation in Molalla?  Oh yes, that’s right.. its all coming back to me now.

During this year, I have met some of the most wonderful, passionate and empowering people I will ever meet in my life and I am forever changed by the experiences and conversations I shared with them.  I moved into a house in Hillsboro with six strangers who are now family to me and will always have a place in my heart, no matter where our next adventures take us.  Though not without its challenges, this year has been one of the most meaningful and difficult things I have ever done and has made me realize how much more growing I will do throughout my life.

This year, I biked, I canoed, I baked, I cried, I yelled, I retreated, I sang, I danced, I danced again, I loved, I lost, I created, I painted, I drove, I planted, I uprooted, I flew, I ran, I walked, I dreamed, I talked, I stayed silent, I protested, I believed, I carried, I learned, I listened, I travelled.  There is so much in this life I am thankful for and blessed with; Oregon will always be a place I call home and the relationships I have cultivated here will sustain me for many years to come.

Thank you for staying with me throughout this year, I hope you’ll stay awhile for the rest of the journey.  My brother and dad arrive in Oregon today and we leave tomorrow on our version of a great American road trip back east, take a peek back and see what we find.  Many blessings to you always, my dear friends, and I wish you peace and wonder on your own adventure.

3 cups smooshed strawberries (that’s 3 cups AFTER smooshing)

5 cups sugar

1 fl oz lemon juice

Hull and smoosh your strawberries. Pour the puree into a large pot. Add sugar and bring the mixture to a boil. Stir pretty much constantly for 10 min. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice. Stir for a few more minutes to thicken. Let the pot cool to room temperature, then store in refrigerator overnight to thicken even more. Put the jam into jam jars (makes 7 jam jars full) and freeze.

Good for 3 weeks in fridge after opening.

During the upcoming fruitful summer months, fresh produce is just waiting to be picked by tiny fingers. The island is sprinkled with farms aplenty, and visitors will delight in an array of U-pick and U-cut options which vary by season and include: Christmas trees, pumpkins, flowers, vegetables and fruits.

During the fall and winter, 150,000 migratory ducks and geese make their way to the island, and other native wildlife waiting to be spotted are red foxes, beavers, raccoons and black-tailed deer. Bird-watching, fishing, biking, and hiking are among the other outdoor activities available on the 24,000 acre island, which is nearly the same size and shape of Manhattan.

Go: Year-round, but June through August are the best months for fruit picking and flower cutting at the many farms located on Sauvie Island.

Approximate Travel Time: Sauvie Island is located 10 miles northwest of downtown Portland, and may only be accessed by a bridge from US 30.

Where to visit: Perhaps the most popular farm on Sauvie Island, a visit to Kruger’s Farm Market is a must. You can wile away a summer day loading up on succulent fruits including boysenberries, cherries and strawberries, and savory vegetables such as beets, corn and cucumbers. Sauvie Island Farms also offers a delectable variety of fresh produce you can pick straight from the fields. For organic produce options, opt for a visit to Sauvie Island Organics and Bella Organic farms for pesticide-free fare. And open June-October, kids will get a kick out of working their way through the original cornfield “Maize” in Oregon, located at The Pumpkin Patch.

How to dress: Seasonally appropriate. Don’t forget to slather on the sunscreen and wear wide-brimmed sun hats if you’ll be picking fruit in the fields during the summertime.

Possible lunch spots: Due to limited food options, (aside from the fruit you pick on the island!) your best bet is to pack a picnic lunch or plenty of snacks and drinks to enjoy during your Sauvie Island adventure.

Need to know: There are no gas stations on Sauvie Island, so fill your tank before your journey. With little ones in tow, it’s important to note that restroom facilities on Sauvie Island are scarce. There are two bathrooms located at the Sauvie Island Boat Ramp at the end of Ferry Rd., and Pumpkin Patch and Kruger’s have restrooms, but they are only available to customers. Planning to enjoy the wildlife on the island? Parking permits are required to park in all wildlife areas. A daily permit costs $7 and may be purchased at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Note: Sauvie Island Farms is closed on Sundays.

Bonus: On Thursday evenings from June 23rd- September 1st from 6:30 – 9:30 pm, enjoy “farm tunes” concert nights at Kruger’s Farm Market at a cost of $10 per car.

Cost of trip: Inexpensive to moderate depending on how much produce you purchase.

Online: http://sauvieisland.org/

—Beth Shea

Or ear protection?  I couldn’t quite say.

Smitten Kitchen’s Strawberry Rhubarb Pie was my first pie ever. I made it in June after we picked fresh strawberries at Kruger’s Farm on Sauvie Island. I subbed whole wheat pastry flour for white, but other than that I followed it word for word. It was scrumptious!

I made Smitten Kitchen’s Pink Lady Cake for Q’s 1st birthday. It was a big hit! Not too sweet and just the right amount of strawberry flavor. Both of these recipes are ones I would use again.

Pioneer Woman’s Key Lime Pie. Sorta. Is one of my new favorites. So easy to make and really light and refreshing. I didn’t use Key Lime’s since they’re kind of hard to find in Oregon, and didn’t notice the difference. Yum!

I didn’t heed Pioneer Woman’s warning about her Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. Thank goodness! This pie is so rich and peanut buttery you start to get sugar shock 3/4 of the way through a slice. And yet by mid-afternoon the next day you’re wondering how you can get the kids to take their naps early so you can raid the fridge for just one more bite. I made this pie for July fourth and didn’t miss strawberry shortcake in the least. Added bonus, both the key lime and this pie are refrigerator pies, so they are great for when the summer heat makes you shy away from baking.

I made King Arthur’s Carrot Cake back in May for my friend and her husband’s birthdays. (They are a week apart.) It came out really great and I’ll totally make this again.

Here are some recipes that I haven’t tried yet, but hope to soon.

Homemade Butter from The Habit of Being.

Ice Cream Jello from Just Jenn Recipes.

Brownstone Front Cake from Wise Craft.

Basil Lemon Cake with Fresh Berries by Eat Make Read.

Margarita Cupcakes from Heart of Linen.

Best Birthday Cake from Smitten Kitchen.

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies from Gotta Little Space.

I’m thinking I might need to try that Best Birthday Cake for my own birthday next Saturday. Hmmm….cake.

Baby Nico happily in sling.

My mom and I went to Kruger’s Farm on Sauvie’s Island Friday afternoon. The sun was bright and the wind was cool- perfect! After a few days of sunshine, the blueberries are just ripening. You had to search a little bit through the unripened berries, but it was worth it to get first pick. My mom picked a huge bag full of blueberries while I sat indian-style in-between the bushes and nursed baby Nico. Nico celebrated being almost two-weeks old with blueberries and sunshine and happy mama and nana.

Cute baby waiting for Nana to finish her berry-picking.

1. Lee Meredith‘s How To Make a Two-Color A-Line Tee Skirt tutorial from Craftstylish.

2. Cal Patch‘s How To Make a One-Pattern-Piece Reversible Sun Hat from Craftsylish.

3. Auborn Studio‘s Felt Strawberry tutorial at Mr. Monkeysuit.

4. Mayaluna’s Summer Dreams Pillow Case Dress tutorial from maya*made.

5.Rachel’s Ruffly Headband tutorial at Heart of Light.

6. Beth’s Two Hour Dress/Tunic tutorial at Lula Louis.

7. LauPre‘s Easy Breezy Wrap Pant tutorial.

8. Ashley’s Getting Ready for Summer Beach Bag tutorial at Film in the Fridge.

9. Autumn’s Perfectly Portable Cushion tutorial at Sew, Mama, Sew!.

We brought the binoculars and were so lucky to see a flock of Goldfinches playing! At first we just saw two chasing each other in the air, then we spotted some in a nearby tree. It was so neat to see them “up close” through the binocular lenses. A few minutes later, we soon realized a whole bunch of them were sitting quietly in the field very close to where we were standing. What a treat!

Nattie and Chas were impressed I knew these pretty yellow birds were Goldfinches, but any person who went to elementary school in Washington could tell you the same thing. I can’t tell you how many times I had to draw Goldfinches in various school reports as a kid.